M'Wikwedong Indigenous Friendship Centre and Gitche Namewikwedong Reconciliation Garden honoured  May 5th, National Day of Remembrance for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two-Spirited people, with a sacred fire and ceremony, words and songs.

Among the speakers was Karen Houle, who shared these powerful words:

Good morning Everyone.  Thank you to the Gitche Name Wiikwedong Committee for your work and for the invitation to come and speak today. Thank you for your leadership and words Chief Smith.

I’m Karen, and I am honoured to be here as a guest of this land. I’m Blackfoot, Metis, Welsh and Algonquin, originally from Treaty 7 territory.

I work at M’Wikwedong Friendship Centre as the Coordinator for the Building Gender Diverse Communities Program, and as part of my job I work with folxs who have experienced violence for simply being who they are.

I am lucky that I get to spend so much of my time with youth. They teach me, share with me, and bring so much joy and fun into my life. They are amazing humans, who give me more than I could ever give back in return. I am here today for them.

Because we collectively, as a society, and as adults need to step up and do the work to make our communities healthier and safer.

I benefit from white privilege. As a white passing mixed person, I am able to walk in the world more safely than some of my relatives and friends. I witness this daily. Here in Grey and Bruce there is no shortage of Racism, or Sexism, homophobia or transphobia. The catcalls, the slurs, or being followed in a store. Bigotry, discrimination and hatred happen here, now.

As a Two Spirit person I am also confronted daily with small slights, to great harms. I have had violence, sexual, physical and verbal, inflicted upon me because of who I am. I’ve watched friends die because of it.

Today is ‘National Day of Awareness and Action for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and 2S-LGBTQQIAP+ people - also known as Red Dress Day.

Red dresses are displayed to remember, to raise awareness, to honour, those who have gone missing, who were murdered, and who have experienced violence. Red not only because it represents the hearts broken by these losses but because of its sacredness. The sacredness of the people lost and harmed.

Red is also finally being used to raise awareness of the Indigenous murdered and missing men and boys. Indigenous people murdered and missing, walking daily with colonial violence.

With every red dress you see today remember that it is connected to a sacred being.

Humans who laugh and love, who hope and dream and who have connections to family and community. A parent, child and a friend. Every red dress you see today represents a real unique human who deserves to be seen and deserves to live in a world that acts and seeks to address the colonized violence that is faced daily, and who also deserves to be more than mere symbols of the violence they have experienced. Red dresses are more than symbols.

I could stand here and quote statistics. I could speak platitudes, or simply speak about today being a day to remember and honour these beautiful humans. To raise awareness. I could make you feel better about being here and giving your time to show your support.

I demand more of myself. I ask more from you.

The Final Report on the Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls was released in June 2019.  There were 231 calls to justice.  To date none have been acted on. There have been Roundtables, and meetings, and lots of speeches and words. What has been missing is action.

Do you know what the calls to justice are? Have you read the report? How can you take action? How can I?

Multiple issues put Indigenous people at risk. I spoke of some of these last year, and the year before. Many people from community have spoken out. Many workers continue to sound alarm bells. Nothing has changed, in fact its just gotten worse.

Did you know that both Grey and Bruce, as counties have worked towards connect this area to the GTA but have yet to provide even basic public transportation services to connect people within Grey Bruce especially for Indigenous People that live interconnectly in urban, rural and Reserve settings? Transportation provides safety and creates opportunities. A lack of transportation isolates, creates barriers to opportunities, basic needs and puts people at risk of violence. Women shouldn’t have to rely on potentially unsafe rides with strangers to get groceries.

The housing situation continues to worsen here in Grey and Bruce. Even with a decent job it’s becoming increasingly impossible to afford a home. Rental rates have increased to obscene levels and racism continues to permeate the rental market which creates additional barriers. The current trend shows no evidence of slowing down and it has been a financial windfall that benefits investors over the very real housing crisis that is pushing many, including Indigenous women and their children, their families further to the margins.

Youth have no place to go. There are no opportunities for them when they leave school. We have no Youth Spaces, or if we do who can go is often limited by transportation and financial barriers. Instead of creating opportunities for youth to thrive we are leaving them open to the very real dangers that are out there. 

The ways trauma intersects and plays out in violence, suicide and substance misuse. How we need to collectively move away from judgements and blame and work towards ways of healing. Ignoring the complexity of these issues puts people at risk. Allowing for things to stay the same kills and harms. We as a society need to do things differently.

We need to stand up.

I encourage you all to read the Calls to Action and reflect on how they relate to your life and to life here in Grey and Bruce.  Think critically. How can we work with the Indigenous Community – letting them lead as stewards of this land? How can we become the treaty partners we are meant to be?

There is a section - Calls for all Canadians. This is a starting point that we can all act on Now.

• Denounce and speak out against violence – all forms of violence including the insidiousness of racist behaviour that all too happens here in Grey/Bruce. Acknowledge the hate here in Canadian society and here in Grey and Bruce, the systemic, the structural, and the individual ways people engage in it. The ways it silences those it’s used against. How folxs are undermined, how it makes us less safe.

• Learn the true history of Canada and the history and culture of Indigenous people. Especially the history here in Grey/Bruce. What do you know about this place where we are right now? What do you know of how this land was taken? What do you know about your responsibilities – to the land, all our relations, and its people?
• Read the Final Report. Listen to the truths shared, and acknowledge the burden of these human rights violations, and how they impact Indigenous people here in this area today.

• Become a strong ally. Being a strong ally involves more than just tolerance; it means actively working to break down barriers and to support others in every relationship and encounter in which you participate.

• Confront and speak out against racism, sexism, ignorance, homophobia, and transphobia, and teach or encourage others to do the same, wherever it occurs: in your home, in your workplace, or in social settings, in your families. Use your privilege, if you say nothing, you are part of the problem.

• Protect, support, and promote the safety of women, girls, and Indigiqueer people by acknowledging and respecting the value of every person and every community, as well as the right of Indigenous people to generate their own, self-determined solutions.

• Create time and space for relationships based on respect as human beings, supporting and embracing differences with kindness, love, and respect. Learn about the Saugeen Ojibway Nation, about what it means to be Anishinaabe, about the land, and about how you can best work with and support your relationships with Indigenous People and the communities here. Seek out the Giiwe recommendations from M’Wikwedong for all community organizations who work with Indigenous people. Email me – I’ll get them to you.

• Help hold all levels of government accountable to act on the Calls for Justice. Write letters, talk to local elected officials. Demand more from them. The more voices that speak out the better.

This is a beautiful place and I am honoured that I have been welcomed by the people of this land. Such beauty, it’s truly a magical place. All our relatives from the trees, to the woodpeckers, and the beautiful sturgeon all bring such richness to my life.

It is however a place that needs to do the work. Racism, sexism, homophobia and transphobia are alive and well here. The structural barriers here that work against people I interact with on a daily basis need to be challenged. We all have much work to do. 

They are called Calls to Action for a Reason. It’s time to Act.

Thank you for listening.